In August 2022, young carers from Lambeth Carers Hub took part in a three-day dance project with Create’s professional dancer, Beth Coleman. The project enabled the young carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities, have fun, learn new skills, build relationships and express themselves.
We spoke to young carer Ruben (13) about his experience.
“The project taught me to talk to people.”
Ruben, a young carer
“I have probably been caring since I was eight years old. I care for my dad. He got into an incident a while ago and he’s been needing a bit of help, so I help him out.
“Over the last few days, we’ve been learning dance routines and creating our own moves, doing mini performances. The project was fun and very interactive. It taught me to talk to people. I asked them for their ideas, they asked for my ideas, so I actually got to socialise a lot more than usual.
“I really enjoyed the freedom we had to do what we wanted to do. I learned that you can make dance out of anything, that you can put any ideas into some sort of performance. Working with Beth was great too. She likes cooperating with people.
“I like being creative in my free time, I draw a lot at home. I think it’s important to have the chance to be creative. I hope that more children get to take part in Create projects, especially people that aren’t used to socialising, because the workshops are very interactive.”
inspired:arts Lambeth was funded by The Taylor Family Foundation.
creative:voices is Create’s multi-artform programme that enables adult carers to take a creative break from their caring responsibilities, build trusting relationships with their peers and develop communication skills, new interests and confidence.
During February to March 2022, carers from Lambeth took part in six weeks of ceramics workshops with our professional artist Sam Haynes.
Adult carer Elena told us about her experiences.
“Being with other carers gives you more energy.”
Elena, an adult carer
“I care for my son, who has some learning difficulties. His condition was very manageable at the beginning, but over the last three years he has gotten worse and as a result, there have been a lot of changes in my life. I’ve learned a lot and I feel like I can help others learn more about my son’s condition.
“During this project I got to play and make things with clay alongside other carers who were like me. I like working with clay because the texture makes it flexible, you can handmake whatever shape you like, dry it and keep it forever. It was great working with Sam too. She explained everything very well and in a simple way. Over the course of the project, I made a tile and three pots! I really enjoyed it.
Finding a safe space
“everyone is dealing with something at home. When you hear a shared experience, it helps.”
Elena, an adult carer
“It was great working with other people on the project. They were really friendly and I made friends. One of the ladies is caring for three people. I’m only caring for one. Hearing her story made me realise that there are people in more difficult situations than me. While it’s not nice, it reassures you that it’s okay because if they’re coping well, I can have some more confidence in my caring role.
“It’s nice having people who understand. You feel more open to speak about a loved one’s condition with them. You can tell them the things that you can’t tell anyone because they understand. We share our experiences and sometimes little things help. You learn a lot from other carers and they give you more energy. It sounds simple, but everyone is dealing with something at home. When you hear a shared experience, it helps. Just to share what you are dealing with helps.
Sharing your creativity
“I don’t often have the chance to do creative things. At home I struggle to keep up with chores, the children and taking them to all their activities, so there’s no time for creativity. When I have the chance, I try. This project has taught me that I can do better than expected and create some beautiful things. It’s all about trying something different, and it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad. Art is just about doing something.
“When I look at all the pieces I made on this project, they look beautiful. I feel relaxed, it was a good experience. I’m excited to take them home, and to take some clay home to use with my children. We can try different things, it’s relaxing and good for your mind. We don’t always need to be rushing around and doing things. I think they will love it. I used to do art with them when they were very little, but not anymore. Now they’re grown up they are into football, but I want them to try something creative, even if it’s just a couple of hours once a week.”
creative:voices Lambeth was funded by Arts Council England
In August 2022, young carers from Sutton took part in a music project with Create’s professional artist Fernando Machado. The project enabled the young carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities, have fun, learn new skills, build relationships and express themselves.
We spoke to one of these young carers, Anya (12), about her experience.
“Once we got to know each other I became my real self.”
Anya, a young carer
“I take care of my older brother who has special abilities. He is older than me but he acts like he’s three or five years old, so I have to do everything for him. Sometimes my parents help me, but mostly if they’re busy or they’re tired I have to do everything except for the cooking.
“A normal school holiday for me means being stuck in the house caring for my brother, not allowed to go out unless it’s in the garden.
“Taking part in the project was fun, because I haven’t had the chance to do anything fun during the summer holidays so far. Usually I only get the chance to do creative activities when I’m not looking after my brother.
Working Together
“During the project we made different types of music and we all worked together to make a song. We came up with lyrics and we worked on the music, before bringing it all together at the end. I enjoyed that we all came together and worked as a team instead of doing it one by one.
“The project taught me that there are many different types of music and many different ways to make it. I was nervous because I thought we were going to sing into a microphone, but when I realised we were singing with other people I felt calm. The project also showed me that I am good at playing guitar, after taking a one-year break.
“Fernando was really fun to talk to and get to know. When he made a mistake, he just apologised and tried again. At least he owned up to his mistakes, because sometimes people pretend to know things even when they don’t.
“The rest of the group were fun to work with too. Generally, when meeting new people, I’m very quiet and shy but once we got to know each other I became more like my real self. I enjoyed being creative with others. Sometimes I don’t really have a lot of ideas, but when you hear other people’s ideas it can bring thoughts to your mind.
“Having the chance to do creative things is important because you can express yourself in different ways.”
inspired:arts Sutton was funded by Project Spark and The Taylor Family Foundation.
Since 2020 we have run several creative arts projects with participants from Enfield Carers Centre, both online and in-venue. Here Carla Brain, Young Carers Project Manager in Enfield, talks about her work with young carers and our blossoming partnership.
Watch the video below or read the full interview.
Who are you and what do you do?
I manage the young carers project at Enfield Carers Centre. We support children aged between five and 18 who have some form of caring role. We go on lots of trips. We also have mentoring programmes and support meetings to help support them.
Carla Brain from Enfield Carers Centre
It’s hard getting carers to identify themselves. It’s been estimated that one in five children and young people are young carers. If you’ve been a carer for most of your life, you think that’s probably what everyone does and you don’t realise. It’s difficult to know at what point you’ve stopped being someone’s son or daughter or brother or sister, and you’ve started caring for them.
I used to care for a family member and I didn’t realise I was a carer. I was a carer as an adult rather than a young carer. I supported my great-aunt and I’ve always been really close to her. She lived in the next road to me while I was growing up, and I used to see her on a daily basis. She used to teach me how to sew.
Then I was at university and I came back home and she’d had a stroke and needed a bit of extra support. I kind of lived with her for a bit, and it was meant to be a temporary thing. And then suddenly, she was getting worried if I left her. So then I would be staying with her all the time and I just … you don’t realise how it slips into that.
I was so shocked that there were young carers. Trying to balance it with my PhD was difficult enough, but I didn’t have to go somewhere 9am ‘til 3.30pm every day. I wasn’t going to be getting in trouble with the educational and local authority if I didn’t attend school because I needed to attend meetings or appointments with her.
“What I love about Create is that you organise everything. It’s all meticulously planned.”
Carla Brain, Enfield Carers Centre
How did you hear about Create?
At the Carers Trust Conference in 2020 Nicky [Goulder, Create CEO] was speaking about opportunities for young carers and [the charity’s] creative activities. I emailed her the second she finished her presentation and said we’d definitely be interested. We set up a meeting and, as it happened, [Create] had a place available on an online activity just a few weeks later. We brought our young carers to that and we’ve attended quite a few Create activities since.
Initially they were online due to the pandemic and then we had some in person. We’ve actually decided with our activities that we like a combination of online and in-person because different young carers find that easier. For some of them, they can’t really leave the person they care for, or it’s too difficult for them to get there, so they prefer online activities. Others prefer face to face because they’d like to have a break from their caring role. Some come to both.
Participants from Enfield Carers Centre on a photography project
The Create staff are so dedicated. For our music workshop in April, we thought about contingencies in case anyone had COVID in advance, but unfortunately the artists and the Create staff all had it. Some of the Create staff were really unwell, but they were so desperate to organise the workshop that they found us another artist and other Create staff members to come and attend. So we still managed to have the workshop, which was absolutely fantastic.
We’ve got music, photography, jewellery making and drama all booked in and coming up.
What do you think about these projects? How do you feel about them?
Create workshops are absolutely fantastic. Everything gets planned out initially. You have a planning meeting and you can discuss everything. It saves so much time. We’re quite a small organisation and we spend a lot of our time doing one-to-one support with our young carers. And it’s so fantastic to be able to have these activities over the school holidays and sometimes in the evenings after school.
We don’t have a lot of time to plan those activities. We need to look at any medical conditions, dietary requirements, have whole registers, book places, organise transport, everything. And it takes so much time to do a simple trip. What I love about Create is that you organise everything. It’s all meticulously planned. We arrange for the children to get to the project, but once we’re there, a lot of the time our staff participate in the activities and we all have a fantastic time doing it.
“I love seeing the beaming smile on their faces when they go up to receive their certificate or they get a chance to show their family what they’ve been doing. They’re just so proud of themselves.”
Carla Brain, Enfield Carers Centre
It means so much to these young carers because they don’t get a lot of these opportunities. A lot of them are unable to attend after-school clubs, or clubs outside school, because of their caring role. So a lot of them have never tried some of these activities before, like music or pottery. And they love it.
Another thing I think is so fantastic with Create is the sharing ceremony: on the last day of the workshop, you have a sharing ceremony, so you can invite parents to attend. They share the work they’ve done and they get certificates. That means so much to our young carers, because a lot of them don’t receive certificates at school because their attendance or punctuality might not be great.
A participant on a photography project with Enfield Carers Centre
[I love seeing] the beaming smile on their faces when they go up to receive their certificate or they get a chance to show their family what they’ve been doing. They’re just so proud of themselves. So many of our young carers are really lacking confidence and it’s just incredible what they get out of Create workshops. They say that they’ve made new friends, they feel less alone, lots of different things like that. These workshops really do help.
One of our young carers looks after someone at home who’s quite ill and vulnerable to COVID. She’s been quite isolated. It’s been difficult for her to attend any activity. It was difficult for her to attend school. When a lot of children went back to school, she wasn’t able to, because it would just be so problematic if she brought the virus home. But when we had all these activities online, she loves coming to these Create ones because she can interact with other children. She’s making friends, she’s so creative. It makes such a difference because it’s a break from her caring role. It’s a chance to be creative and she can show the person she cares for what she’s created, which is just brilliant.
What does being creative mean to you?
It always lifts my mood. I think creative activities do that for people. Different things got different people through the pandemic. For instance, before the pandemic, my mum had been insisting to me for years that she cannot draw and that she’s terrible at art. Now she’s taken up watercolour painting. And they’re just incredible. Some people learnt a language or learned to play an instrument or people might have taken up watercolour painting for instance, or cookery. I think those things can get you through tough times.
Can you tell me what it’s like working with the Create team specifically?
All of the Create staff are absolutely fantastic. Very dedicated, very thorough. They’re all incredible.
We’ve worked with a number of different artists and they’ve all been absolutely brilliant. When they explain what they’re doing, they explain it in layman’s terms. You understand what they’re saying and you can ask them questions. They’re always happy to be really flexible. With young carers, sometimes someone might have an appointment or they might need to go to the hospital or something happens that delays them. But they’re always happy to take that into consideration.
Create staff are in contact with you the whole way through. They arrange the support meetings and talk you through everything. They always turn up when they say they will. They’re just so dedicated. Nicky, the CEO, is so passionate. Hearing her speak is why we got involved with Create in the first place.
What would you say to a carer service that was considering working with Create?
Definitely do it. There’s absolutely nothing to lose. You can speak to the staff about any questions you’ve got, any concerns you have. They are super flexible with anything that you need to speak to them about. So if it’s about punctuality, if it’s to do with numbers of attendees, if it’s about getting forms in … any of the concerns you might have, you can speak to them. They’re so flexible with it. And your young carers will get so much out of it. As will your staff: your staff will love it.
creative:voices is Create’s multi-artform programme that enables adult carers to take a creative break from their caring responsibilities, build trusting relationships with their peers and develop communication skills, new interests and confidence.
From April to June 2022, carers from Manchester took part in six weeks of music workshops with our professional musician Holly Marland.
Adult carer Emily (25) told us about her experiences.
“Being creative can be done in any way, shape or form, so take a chance to do something you enjoy or something you’ve never done before.”
Emily (25), carer and Create participant
“I care for my mum. She’s got a visual impairment, which she’s had since she was a child. It’s slowly getting worse. So I’m just helping her as best I can.
“The responsibility has grown a bit. There might be times where I’ve had to cancel a plan because I’ve had to take her to an appointment, or I might have to go and meet her somewhere because it’s getting dark. It’s just wanting to make sure she’s alright. “It’s life, isn’t it. Sacrifices have had to be made. But then I am fortunate that I am able to go out and do a few things for myself, because some carers can’t even do that.”
Making masterpieces
“On this project we created pieces of music using a variety of instruments, whether it be drums, strings, keys. We’ve created beautiful masterpieces, all different styles and different interpretations.
“My brother’s got a keyboard, and my mum used to play the piano when she was younger. I just think it sounds really, really nice. I don’t know the technicality of all the keys and everything, but I’m here to learn. It’s been nice to advance a bit more on my skills. I just tried pressing keys to see what sounded good, and exploring the different sounds. The only way you’ll learn is by trying something, and keep trying until you find something you like.
“I’ve enjoyed everything about the project. I’ve enjoyed being with everybody and having great leaders – Holly [Create musician] and Andy [Wai Yin Welcome Centre volunteer] – and then hearing everybody coming together and creating different music. It’s just lovely. It’s gone so fast.
“Everybody has really come together and it’s nice spending time with everyone. And that’s what it’s all about, especially the last couple of years we’ve had, everybody being locked up and everything. It’s just nice to spend time with people and create music.
“Holly is lovely. She’s so welcoming and smiley. Seeing her smile makes me smile. She’s so engaging as well, you wanted to hear what she’s got to say. She’s helpful, because obviously she knows her music. She’s not like ‘Argh you’ve done it wrong’, she’s like ‘Why don’t you try it like this?’ It’s encouraging.”
Trying something new
“I’m quite a creative person anyway, but it’s nice to try something new. I’ve dabbled a bit with instruments, but not anything to this extent, so it’s been really nice to be creative in a way that I’ve not really done before. I’ve done dance since I was a child, too, and I do acting.
“What you create is beautiful. Being creative can be done in any way, shape or form, so take a chance to do something you enjoy or something you’ve never done before and explore something new and see if you like it. Then if you don’t like it you can say ‘I tried’.
“Everybody’s caring situation is very different, but just being able to have time with people who are in similar situations, just coming together and being there for one another … we’re all in the same boat. There are no judgements. When you’re with a group of carers it’s like everyone is understanding and I think that’s really important. It’s nice for carers to have that bit of time to do something new.”
Listen to the group’s performance on the final day of the project.
This project is funded by The Smiles Fund, awarding funds from Walkers and Comic Relief.
Carers Week 2022: Adult carers in harrow connect through filmmaking
As part of Carers Week 2022, we are proud to highlight some of the powerful voices from our creative:voicesfilmmaking project in Harrow.
Working alongside Create’s professional filmmaker Linda Mason, a group of adult carers from Harrow spent two months producing a short film together, enabling them to take a creative break from their caring responsibilities.
From pre-production to the final edit, the carers worked together to create a documentary that represents what Harrow Carers service means to them, sharing stories from the colourful cast of individuals who attend the service, and their hopes, dreams and passions.
Adult carers in Harrow celebrating with their awards after a successful film premiere.
Caring is a tough job. One in eight adults are carers, and over 1million of them care for more than one person. These unpaid carers save the economy an estimated £132 billion every year.
Unsurprisingly, a caring role can take a huge toll on an individual’s life. 72% of carers responding to a 2018 Carers UK survey said they had suffered mental ill health as a result of caring.
“I LOOK AT CREATIVITY AS REINVENTING AND CONSTANTLY LEARNING.”
Geeta, 65, carer
meet geeta
Geeta, 65, from Harrow shares her experiences with her caring role and how creativity has helped her through a difficult time.
After a tumultuous year for Geeta (65), one of the adult carers who took part in the project, she found solace in surrounding herself with the community at Harrow Carers and has enjoyed every moment of her first Create project.
“I was like a child in a candy shop. I’ve always loved photography and anything to do with films. I’d done a very short course as a sixth former but since then I hadn’t done anything like that.
“I have been a carer for quite some time. I was caring for my parents, but unfortunately, they both passed away. Then I was caring for my sister. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Within a very short time after that, the youngest of my brothers – who was my soulmate – got diagnosed with kidney cancer. I’d lost my job through the pandemic. I was under so much pressure and was looking after others, but one of the lovely ladies from a carers service said to me, “Who’s looking after you?”
“Unfortunately, I lost my sister in November 2021, and within three weeks I lost my brother. I found myself at my lowest, so I sent an email to Harrow Carers and asked for help.
“This is my first Create project. Creativity is extremely important for everyone on a daily basis because if you don’t create daily, you’ll become very stale. I look at creativity as reinventing and constantly learning. One very profound thing that my father taught me was that you’re always learning, so never say you know it all because you don’t.
“Along the way, so many lovely people have come into my life. The project is amazing. Hannah [Create project manager] and Linda [Create filmmaker] are the most beautiful souls and they really welcomed us. I would love another wonderful project like this.”
breaking barriers
Geeta’s sentiments were echoed by fellow carers who took part in the project. Wuod (64) a carer for two, said: “Creativity makes my dreams come true. I learnt how to use professional cameras, cameras which are very difficult, and I feel proud. I even took some photos of my family. This project is the best of the best, I’ve never been to a project that gives me such confidence. The Create team gave us so much confidence to do things. When I asked them: ‘Can I do this?’ they would say: ‘You choose!’ So all of my film, I made it myself. For me this is a dream.
“The project also helped improved my [English]. At home we always speak in my first language so when I came to this project and started speaking with friends and with other carers, it’s improved my language and I’m much better at it.”
“Carers stories are incredible stories.”
Colin Powell, Operations Director at HArrow Carers
The participants, Create staff and Harrow Carers team gathered to celebrate the end of the project with a screening of the film, food and an awards ceremony. After watching the film, Colin Powell, Operations Director at Harrow Carers, said: “I’m touched, I had to hold back the tears. It was such a fantastic video and I could see so many different journeys taking place. The happiness, the creativity that you brought forward, the friendliness … it all beamed through. I want to thank these fantastic people from Create for assisting and putting this on. Carers’ stories are incredible stories and when we come together we can do great things. It’s so good to look after each other and be part of Harrow Carers and the carers family, so thank you.”
You can watch the film the group created below.
The creative:voicesHarrow filmmaking project was supported by First Sentier Investors.
Throughout 2021/22, young carers from Lambeth worked with Create’s professional artists in a variety of artforms, including photography, poetry, ceramics, dance and visual art.
The projects, which were delivered in partnership with Lambeth Carers Hub, enabled the young carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities, have fun, learn new skills, build relationships and express themselves.
We spoke to one of these young carers, Faridah (12), and her mother Honey, about their experiences. (They were also filmed for Grayson’s Art Club, which you can read about here.)
“Being creative for me means that I get to express my feelings and my emotions through art, since I find explaining it difficult.”
Faridah (12), a Young carer
Honey – Faridah’s mother
“Naeemah, Faridah’s younger sister, was born prematurely. She stayed in hospital for eight-and-a-half months, and it changed everything. It took me away a lot from Faridah because I was at the hospital every day, sometimes for 12 hours a day. For Faridah, getting time with me would mean her coming to the hospital and being in the family waiting area or being by the bedside with the baby. That’s when I think I noticed a shift in her expression and communication. She became more closed off.
“Her sister is classed as vulnerable, so we had to do a lot of isolating during the pandemic, which meant that Faridah had to stay home and couldn’t go back into school when the lockdown was lifted. So it took a lot away from Faridah and her own personal time and personal space.
“Faridah is very selfless. She didn’t want to add any more pressure on me. And that’s a testament to how amazing Faridah is: she’s kind and loving and respectful. The older Naima’s getting, she’s becoming more dependent on Faridah, she wants to do everything her sister does. So the pressure has become a lot more on Faridah to help with her sister’s care.
“Joining this young carers group was amazing for Faridah because she was around other young people who had shared experiences, so it was easier for her to feel seen and heard. The Create projects started allowing her to come out of her shell: expressing herself through the arts, through photography, through songwriting. She’s anticipating the road to being 13, and she wrote a song called ‘The Road to 13’. Her experiences that she’s written into those songs, it’s very different to an everyday 12-year-old and their perspective on what being a teenager is going to look like because of all the responsibilities she’s had to adopt.
“We started noticing the transition when Faridah started the Create project – of her imagination expanding and being open to different types and forms of art.”
Honey, Faridah’s mother
“Faridah wouldn’t talk about her feelings, she would paint it on a picture or draw. We started noticing the transition when she started the Create project – of her imagination expanding and being open to different types and forms of art, and exploring different things she can use to create something amazing, things you wouldn’t normally think of. I’m really, really proud of her.”
Faridah
“Today me and my group of three made our own heroine called GirlBoss and we added loads of different decorations to her, like her outfit and her hair and her facial features. We were thinking of Michael Jackson mixed with the Suffragettes because GirlBoss is stylish and she’s good at dancing, and then her role in the world is to be another version of the Suffragettes.
Young carer Faridah and another young carer with their creation, GirlBoss
“Being creative for me means that I get to express my feelings and my emotions through art, since I find explaining it difficult. I like making art with different objects and I like drawing with a pencil and I like different types of shading. Sometimes when I’m at home I’ll copy different designs of bedrooms from cartoons I watch, so I’ll pause it when it gets to the kid’s mum’s bedroom and I’ll copy it to see how well I can draw in 3D.
“I like drawing because I don’t feel like I need a certain amount of time to draw, I can just keep drawing for as long as I want.
“Through the Create projects I’ve done things like making mini-sculptures of different things, like making my own time machine. It’s made me feel like I can express myself better in art instead of just drawing random things, so now I can make more things out of the cardboard my grandma might have or any pieces of paper I find around the house, I can make something out of it.
“Being a young carer has made me more patient with my sister because I understand that if she does something wrong I can’t just get mad at her.”
Our projects with Lambeth Carers Hub are ongoing. To support this work, please use the donation form below – or click here to give monthly.
In April 2022, young carers from Ealing and Hounslow took part in a three-day creative writing project with Create writer Bryony Littlefair.
The project enabled a group of young carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities, have fun, learn new skills, build relationships and express themselves. The project was delivered in partnership with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust as part of our inspired:arts programme.
We spoke to young carer Josh (10) about his time on the project.
“projects like this help young carers because they can express their feelings in writing. So they can talk about it, they have a free space to talk.”
Josh, a Young Carer
“I care for my brother because he’s disabled. He finds it hard to walk and whenever he falls over I help him up. I’ve been caring for him my whole life.
“I know a lot of kids at my school, all my friends, don’t have anything like this in their lives. So I can definitely tell a difference between us because they tell me about their life at school and it’s quite different.
“Maybe I’m a bit more protective than other people because I have someone to protect, I have someone to look after, and in other people’s lives they don’t really have that. Sometimes my schoolwork is affected a little bit because I mostly worry about him, wondering if he’s doing okay at his school. We go to separate schools.”
Exposing your feelings
“On the first day of the project we did free-writing, which is when you write whatever comes to your mind. So when you get stuck you just keep writing “I don’t know I don’t know blah blah blah” and then something will eventually come to your mind. I’ve learnt that it doesn’t really have to make sense, what you write. You can write whatever you want.
“I felt quite impressed with myself because I’ve written a few poems at school but nothing like the sort of poem I wrote here. Obviously, Bryony [Create artist] is a professional poet and she helped me on the first two days with the poetry of the subject. It was really good working with the rest of the group. It was fun.
“It felt good to get out of the house and work my brain over the holidays. I’ve learnt that I can express myself with writing rather than something else.
“I think projects like this help young carers because they can express their feelings in writing. So they can talk about it, they have a free space to talk. At our school you don’t have that much space to talk. Or you can’t really express that in your writing because in English lessons you have a task that you have to do, whereas on these sorts of projects you can write whatever you want and you can express yourself in different ways and expose your feelings.”
This project was funded by The Feathers Association and The Mercers’ Company.
In April 2022, young carers from Sefton in Merseyside took part in three days of circus workshops with Create artist Mimosa Percy.
The project enabled them to take a break from their caring responsibilities, have fun, learn new skills, build relationships and express themselves. It was delivered in partnership with Sefton Carers as part of our inspired:arts programme.
We spoke to young carer Isabel (10) about her time on the project.
“Being creative with other people, you try new things. If no one else was here with me I’m sure I’d stick with one item.”
Isabel, A Young Carer
“I care for my mum. She’s blind. When she’s crossing the road, she can’t see the cars coming, so I have to help her across. It’s really hard because if we get hurt it’s kind of my fault. I’ve always cared for my mum. When she has to have tablets, I have to cut them for her, and help her with the cooking.
“Sometimes in science when we’re talking about hearing and eyesight I do get a little bit upset, but I’m kind of used to it. In school a lot of people joke about ‘he’s blind, she’s blind’, and I’m like: ‘Don’t joke about it because imagine if it was actually real.’”
Going to the circus
“I took part in a circus project where [Create] brought in equipment to do tricks with, and acrobatics. I used the spinning plates, diablo, hoops, juggling balls, skipping ropes and stilts. My favourite was the plate spinning.
“With a friend I made this routine with spinning plates and juggling balls. We’ve added a story into it. There are two friends and the moral is that if you’re kind to other people, people will want to help you and you’ll get better at things. But if you’re mean, people won’t really want to help you.
“Before I did the circus workshops I was a bit scared I would do something wrong. But now I know it doesn’t matter if I get it wrong because other people may not be able to do it as well.
“It was really fun working with the others. I’m really happy that I came here because normally I just sit on technology. Now I’ve come here, if somebody says: ‘Do you want to do something?’ I’d probably say ‘yes’.
“Until you try something you don’t know whether you like it or not. I’ve learnt that some things I’m not good at, and other things I am, so I’m going to keep on learning to get better at them. Being creative with other people, you try new things. If no one else was here with me I’m sure I’d stick with one item.
“Projects like this help young carers mix with other people. If they’re looking after their parents or brothers or sisters all the time they might not have enough time to talk to other people unless it’s school.”
This project was funded by The Forrester Family Trust and The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund
One of Create’s projects featured on the hit Channel 4 TV show Grayson’s Art Club on Friday 25 March.
Grayson’s Art Club is a primetime art documentary series presented by Turner-Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry and psychotherapist and artist Philippa Perry. The show, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, aims to bring the nation together through art and unleash our collective creativity, with Grayson making new works, hosting masterclasses and speaking to famous faces from the worlds of art and entertainment.
As part of the latest series, Philippa Perry visited different communities around the UK and explored the benefits that art-making can have on their mental health and wellbeing. In February 2022, she and the production team visited one of our visual art projects with young carers who attend Carers Hub Lambeth. The resulting film formed part of episode two in the series.
Heroes and heroines
During the project, the young carers worked with our professional artist Rachel McGivern to reflect on the theme “heroes and heroines”, creating three life-sized characters out of cardboard, which they brought to life with colour and collage.
“Heroes and heroines” was also the theme of the episode, which highlighted that young carers themselves are everyday heroes who live among us.
Above: Philippa Perry talks about her time on the project and the value of creativity
“Create creates spaces for people who otherwise wouldn’t experience what creativity can do for you, and I think that’s really important.”
Philippa Perry
One of the young carers who took part in the project, Faridah, was interviewed for the show. Philippa visited Faridah at home to get a better understanding of her life as a young carer, what being a young carer means, and how creativity can bring much-needed hope, escapism and respite to young carers.
If you missed the show, or to watch it again, click here.
We spoke to Faridah and her mother, Honey, about their life at home and what a difference taking part in Create workshops has had on Faridah. Click below to hear what they had to say:
We are grateful to Faridah and her family, as well as the young carers and staff at Carers Hub Lambeth, for their support with this project.
